14 Eylül 2011 Çarşamba

Erdogan in Cairo: Israel is undermining its own legitimacy

Oren KESSLER The Jerusalem Post

Receiving
hero’s welcome, Turkish PM tells Arab League representatives that int'l
recognition of Palestinian state “not an option but an obligation.”

Israel’s
actions are undermining its own legitimacy, Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Arab League representatives in Cairo on
Tuesday, adding that international recognition of a Palestinian state is
“not an option but an obligation.”

“While Israel is trying to
secure its legitimacy in our region on one hand, it is taking
irresponsible steps that unsettle its legitimacy on the other,” Erdogan
told Arab foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital, his first stop on a
Middle East tour intended to bolster Turkey’s role as a rising regional
power player.

The
Turkish premier received a hero’s welcome in Cairo, with hundreds of
raucous Egyptians chanting his name outside the Arab League
headquarters.

“Erdogan has turned into an Arab hero,” said a Syrian protester standing outside the Arab League building.“It’s
time to raise the Palestinian flag at the United Nations,” Erdogan
said. “Let’s raise the Palestinian flag and let that flag be the symbol
of peace and justice in the Middle East. Let’s contribute to securing
well-deserved peace and stability in the Middle East.”

“I think common sense and cold reason will eventually win out on all sides,” he said.

“People are definitely working overtime on our side, and I don’t think only on our side,” Netanyahu said without elaborating.

The
prime minister’s comments came as he was visiting the Egyptian border
area to oversee construction of a new section of the security fence
there.

Many of the Egyptians gathered to welcome Erdogan appeared
to be religious conservatives eager to imitate his AKP party’s success
in bringing traditional Islam into mainstream politics.

“Erdogan, Erdogan – a big welcome from the Brothers!” one protester’s banner said, in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Pro-Erdogan – and anti- Israel – sentiment did not, however, appear confined to the Brotherhood and its Islamist ilk.

“We
need to preserve our relations with Turkey and all the countries that
want to help the Arab world and take advantage of them to create a
stronger political front to enhance the Arab states’ position against
Israel,” said Muhammad Adel of the April 6 movement, which helped lead
the revolt to oust Hosni Mubarak.

Introducing Erdogan, Arab
League secretary-general Nabil Elaraby said, “All the Arab peoples
appreciate what you are doing. We consider that there is a strong
friendly state who is always standing on the side of justice.”

The
Turkish leader’s destinations on the tour – Egypt, Tunisia and Libya –
have all witnessed the fall of entrenched leaders to grassroots revolts
this year, challenging the old order across the region.

Turkey
expelled the Israeli ambassador last week in a row over an Israeli raid
last year that killed nine Turks on the Mavi Marmara flotilla bound to
break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Erdogan told leading pan-
Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera this month that the incident was a “cause
for war,” but said Turkey acted with “patience,” according to a
transcript.

“All [Turkey’s] moves against Israel are only meant
to promote itself as a political power in the Arab region and spread its
influence on the new generation of the Arab youth who are longing for
change and power,” said Nabil Abdel Fattah of Cairo’s Al-Ahram Center
for Political and Strategic Studies.

Adel Soliman, another
Egyptian analyst, said that for all its verbal barbs at Israel, Ankara
would not break with its former ally and, as a NATO member, remained
aligned with the West.

Turkey’s press has been fixated with Erdogan’s visit.

On
Monday, the Islamistleaning Sabah newspaper quoted the prime minister
in its lead headline, which stated, “My heart in Gaza, my voice in
Tahrir” – while another conservative daily, the Star Gazette, led with
“Tahrir welcomes Erdogan at the airport.”

The secularist press has been less enthused.

“Poor
Arabs! How should they know the guy who’s advising them on democracy
actually only sees it as a vehicle, a means of achieving his own goals,
and getting off the vehicle once this has been done?” wrote Cuneyt
Arcayurek in Cumhuriyet, calling Erdogan the “Grand Vizier of the
Ottoman Republic.”

While winning over ordinary Arabs –
particularly because of non-Arab Turkey’s tough line toward Israel –
Erdogan’s growing popularity and clout could be a headache for more
cautious Arab leaders who could see their own influence overshadowed. A
recent Pew Research Center poll found 78 percent of Egyptians had a
positive view of Erdogan, compared to just 5% of Israelis.

Egypt
has traditionally seen itself as the leading diplomatic player in the
Arab region. But its position has been eroded by wealthy Gulf countries,
and in recent years has been overshadowed by Turkey’s own
fast-expanding economy.

The visiting leader met with Egyptian
Prime Minister Essam Sharaf as well as Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein
Tantawi, who heads Egypt’s military council, which took over after
Mubarak was ousted by mass-street demonstrations in February.